Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Jennifer at Macmillan was kind enough to offer me complementary copies of the Grammar Girls Quick and Dirty Tips. Please click HERE and check out their site! You can click HERE to go to the series site!
In exchange for my review, I am able to have my own copies and also offer two books for giveaway!

Grammar Girl's 101 Misused Words You'll Never Confuse Again

Amazon Product Description:

Millions of people around the world communicate better thanks to Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, whose top-rated weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 30 million times. After realizing her fans were asking the same questions over and over, Mignon decided to focus her attention on those words that continuously confound the masses. You’ll learn
· When you should use affect and when effect is right
· Whether you should you say purposely or purposefully
· What the difference is between hilarious and hysterical
Packed with clear explanations, fun quotations showing the word used in context, and the quick and dirty memory tricks Mignon is known for, this friendly reference guide ends the confusion once and for all and helps you speak and write with confidence.

Grammar Girl's 101 Words Every High School Graduate Needs To Know

Amazon Product Description:

Millions of people around the world communicate better thanks to Mignon Fogarty, aka Grammar Girl, whose top-rated weekly grammar podcast has been downloaded more than 30 million times. Now she’s turning her attention to improving our vocabulary—one word at a time.

Not sure whether your post-high school vocabulary is up to snuff? This handy reference guide is a great starting point for ensuring you know the words that will help you impress your college professors, hold your own among your peers, write killer papers, and simply sound articulate--a skill that will benefit you for years to come.

Full of clear, straightforward definitions and fun quotations from luminaries such as J.D. Salinger and Susan B. Anthony, to characters such as Marge and Homer Simpson, this highly-useable guidebook gives you the confidence to succeed and sets you up for a lifetime of success.

My thoughts: Both these books were enlightening! I will be keeping both these books on my desk at school. I am planning to use the 101 Words book to post "Word of the Day" in the media center and I am sure that there will be more than one student who will benefit from the Misused Words book throughout the school year.Misused Words book: I love that the tip for each set of words is in a box at the bottom of the page. It draws your attention and helps you to remember it. There are so many times, especially as a book reviewer, that I wonder about my word choices! I was surprised at some of the misused words, but I hear students struggle with many of them regularly. One that I deal with almost daily (that I didn't find in Misused) is many/much. Perhaps it is because I work in a 6-12 media center that I hear it a lot. Students are always asking, "How much books can I check out?" My response is always, "Many, how many books." They look at me sideways and say, "Yea, that's what I want to know." They always seem to miss the correction. I saw some words that I struggle with myself:Because of/Due to is one such example. After reading, I realized that there have been occasions where I have misused this one!Desert/Dessert is one that I remember from childhood. I remember being told, "Dessert has two s's because you always want more." I still hear that phrase in my head when I write or type both desert and dessert.My favorite from the Misused Words book is Irregardless versus Regardless. The author writes, "Irregardless may be the most hated word in the English language. Don't use it. Trust me. Just put down the ir and back away." I laughed out loud when I read that page.

101 Words book:I like that the words are listed alphabetically. I was impressed that each one also has background as well as a definition. All the words have samples, but I was excited to see that most have a quotation listed in which the word is used correctly. I was surprised at some of the words included in this book. Words such as canard, fungible, and xeriscape I have never heard used. Meme, as is stated in the book, is a new word. I was surprised to see it only because of that newness. As a blogger it is a word used regularly so I was pleased to see it.